Rockets Return Trip
by Ishvallan
Summary: The gang returns to their hometown for the first time in years. First time since Reggie and Sam got together, since Reggie and Twister started working together, and since Otto went full time as a professional extreme athlete.
1. Chapter 1

Christmas time in Ocean Shores wasn't too much different from the rest of the year but for the temperature and the lights hanging from houses and other decorations. It had been a few years since they could find the time to go back to where they all grew up together, but for once it seemed the gang might all be back together again.

The van pulled up in front of Raymundo's same house as he kept when they were all kids. Twister, Reggie, and Sam all got out and carried things to the door and rang the bell. Noelani excitedly answered the door and hugged Reggie first before the other two and invited them all in. Raymundo got up from the couch and hugged his daughter and shook the guys' hands.

"Great to see you all, can't wait to hear all your stories. But I have some bad news first, Rocket Boy won't be able to join us again this year."

"Which hospital is he in this time?" Reggie asked rolling her eyes.

"West Hills Hospital. Reno, Nevada. 2 major fractures in his leg, and dislocated his hip. I don't know what to do with that kid. One weekend he brings home a tournament check for thirty grand, twenty five grand the next, then he's in the hospital blowing it all on bills. I'm surprised insurance is still willing to cover him at all. He makes just enough from actually competing to cover the injuries from going too big showing off when he had a win in the bag."

"I swear, with how much time he spends in the hospital it's like he doesn't even call our house home anymore," Noelani added half joking half sad that he step son kept getting hurt.

"Not great to hear but I guess we're all kind of used to it. If he's not hurt, I'm away on business or Reggie and Twister have a news assignment to cover. But still, it's great to see you guys again. If you don't mind, I want to run over and let mom know I'm here and spend some time with her." Sam gave Reggie a quick kiss and headed out the door.

"Me too, I wanna see mom and dad a while since Lars couldn't come back this year. Still weird that I actually miss the guy now that he's not whomping me anymore," Twister said heading for the door with Sam.

Ray hollered after the younger men as they walked out. "Ask your folks if they wanna stop by for dinner tonight, don't want to break up anyone's family time so we might as well all spend it together."

"Will do Raymundo, I'm sure mom doesn't have any other plans." Sam waved behind him as he headed for his mom's house.

"Likewise, but you know mom and dad haven't ever been much for spending time with the rest of you guys. They can be so uptight." Twister crossed the cul-de-sac seeing his mom already outside waiting with open arms.

Reggie closed the door and sat down with her dad and step-mom.

"So how are things? I expect work has all of you guys busy," Ray asked.

"Things are pretty chill in the downtime. Me and Sam have a decent flat thats nice to relax at when he's not working late and I'm not out of town covering some tournament. Its nice to see Otto when we're covering an event he's competing at. Seems those are the ones he doesn't go crazy at since he doesn't want us to watch him beef it. Twister got his own place not too far from us. We talked about going in together on a bigger place but he's still adjusting to me and Sammy being a thing."

"Still adjusting? Its been 3 years." Noelani laughed.

"Yeah but we've all been best friends for like 15. Plus me and him had that thing in high school so things can be weird sometimes. But it's all good, we haven't had any problems. He's seeing this girl he'll probably talk about tonight if they come over."

"We're just glad you two gave it a try. I made 20 bucks when-OW"

"What your father means is a lot of people saw potential. But we know it can be strange for best friends to try to be more involved, especially when they are family of other best friends." Noelani smiled and put her hands back in her lap after elbowing Ray in the ribs.

"Yeah it's kind of weird that this is the first time I've seen you guys since we started dating. And don't worry, he's staying at his mom's place while we're here and we don't even share a room at our place. Don't need dad to go into overbearing 'don't touch my daughter' mode like he did on Twister."

"There's a big difference. You guys were still just kids back then and I know what 15 year old boys think about. Not saying I don't trust Twister, I'm just- OW- well I trusted you. But you and Sam are adults, no point pretending things don't happen."

"We're not having this conversation dad!" Reggie laughed and covered her ears. "Hey, is Tito in town or did he go back to Hawaii for the holidays? I miss him a lot, we don't talk to him much except when we come to visit."

Noelanni and Ray exchanged muffled giggles and suggestive glances.

"Guys...where is Tito?"

The two Rocket elders doubled over in their seats laughing.

"Do I wanna know? I don't think I wanna know. I don't wanna know. I'm gonna go check in on Sam and say hi to his mom."

Ray and Noelani fell out of their seats barely breathing through their laughter.

"No! He's not! But they've he's had a crush on her for like, EVER!"

Ray and Noelani gasped for breath as their laughter subsided, wiping tears from their eyes.

Noelani told her step-daughter, "Like we said about you and Sam, it can be strange when you get involved with the relative of a friend, but we're glad they gave it a chance. Turns out she had the same crush. They were just too nervous to talk to each other."

Ray gave another laugh, "Run on over there. If you hurry, Sammy might still have his face stuck in shock."

Reggie started laughing herself and ran out the door. She called back before she left, "I'll be back in a few, probably bringing everyone else over. This is too good to miss."

Reno was a far way out of the way but she didn't think most of the group would mind the road trip for a few days to surprise Otto so he didn't have to spend the holiday alone. But for now she was glad to be back in Ocean Shores for a few weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam knocked on the door of his mom's house and was greeted with tears and smiles before being pulled in. Then he got the surprise.

"Tito! It's so great to see yo-mom is there something you want to tell me?"

She walked over and held the heavy hawaiian's hand and said "Surprise, honey. We've been dating a few weeks."

"Congratulations you guys. I'm so glad you both found someone, who would've thought you'd actually get over your nerves and get together." He walked over and hugged both of them.

"Oh Sammy, I'm so glad you're happy about it. I wasn't sure how you would take it so I didn't tell you sooner. I know you two have always been close so I didn't think you would be ok with us being involved."

"It's ok, we're all adults here now. Might have been weirder when I was younger, but we've all seen the awkward moments between you two. But who made the move on who? Raymundo might owe me 20 bucks."

"I asked her out, little cuz," Tito told him. "There was just a day where I knew I had to take a plunge, same as when you decided you wanted to surf like the rest of the kids."

"What did you say, mom? Yes obviously but how did it go?" He sat down in a chair and his mom and older friend took the love seat together.

"I was more surprised by the forwardness than you were to find out we are dating, to say the least. Once the 'am I dreaming' rush faded I told him I'd love to. Thing have been casual but he treats me so well. We're taking it slowly, we both agreed we're a bit old to rush into anything that might make things strange for you."

They heard an excited knock at the door and Paula answered the door.

"Hi, Ms. Dullard, it's great to see you again. Where's Sammy? Did you tell him? What did he say?"

She heard Tito and Sam start laughing. She ran over and hugged the man who'd been close like flesh and blood her entire life.

"Tito! I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too. All of you little cuzzes are like family to me."

"So what did you say Sammy?" She turned around expecting some permanently stuck face of shock but just saw her normal calm boyfriend still chuckling a little.

"I approved and told them I'm happy for them. Don't forget, when we were all younger talking about them being awkward about each other, I was one of the few who thought they would actually start dating someday."

"Oh yeah, I wonder if Raymundo remembers that he bet Tito would never have the nerve and owes you like 20 for losing" Reggie went and sat in the chair on Sam's lap while Paula and Tito both sat back down.

"Brudda Ray bet against ME? Its like he forgot about the fearless, oh who am I kidding, I was petrified until she said yes. But I couldn't keep going on without trying."

"And I'm so glad he did or we never wouldve broken the ice." Paula gave Tito a small kiss. The younger people didn't let it show but both still felt a bit weird seeing it.

"Anyway, dad and Noelani wanted us to invite you guys over for dinner tonight. Twister is asking the Rodriguez's too but, well you know."

"Oh we'd love to. We'd just planned to go out to dinner but spending some time with everyone will be much more fun," Paula replied.

Everyone got up to go, but Sam held back a bit. "Um, Reggie, can you take my mom over? I kind of want to talk to Tito alone a minute."

"Sure thing Sam." Reggie looked inquisitive but figured whatever it was it was something Sam wanted to say man to man.

Sam and Tito went out the back door to the yard.

"What's on your mind, Sammy?"

"I, um, I just want to thank you for everything while I was growing up. You were kind of like a second dad to me. Raymundo was fun to be around, but you just seemed to get me. You always knew the right thing to say to us kids and what lessons we needed to learn from the adults or when to learn from our mistakes. I know you guys just started dating, but if things do get serious, I would be totally ok if you married my mom."

"That means a lot. Of all the things I did with my life, helping all you kids grow up into good strong people means the most to me."

The two men shared a heartfelt hug and walked around the building to join the ladies up front, Sam recalling Tito once saying one should never keep a lady waiting.


	3. Chapter 3

Twister jogged across the street into his mother's outstretched arms and returned her hug. He could hear plenty of voices coming from inside the house, many of his relatives came to stay during the holidays. He and his mother walked into the living room and his cousins Scotty and Clio came to greet him first before various aunts, uncles, and grandparents came to welcome him home.

It was as strange as ever to see Scotty now towering above him by almost an entire head, but Clio still looked so much like Reggie that it had almost become difficult to tell them apart but for their differing fashion styles. Once the extended relatives gave Twister some room to breathe, he walked over to his father sitting in his favorite chair and he bent over to give the older man a hug.

"Welcome back, mi hijo. Thank you for taking time to see your family." His father's welcome was genuine but Twister knew that his father never approved of his staying friends with those Rocket children all these years later, or his decision to go into filming for television instead of coming to work at the company his father worked for.

"Glad to see you, dad. Any word from Lars?"

"He couldn't get away from the garage over the holidays, he won't be able to come visit until after the new year at the earliest."

"At least he gets to come by more often than I do. I kind of miss him sometimes."

"That is the price of moving away from family. But no one stays in their parents' home forever."

Twister's mother, Sandy, came out of the kitchen and informed everyone that dinner would be served soon.

"Oh, that's right. Raymundo and Noalani invited us to come over and visit tonight. I'm sure we could bring our food over and have a big cook out for all the families."

"Nonsense, we have all the family we need here, no need to spend all of your time with them instead of with your flesh and blood" Raoul dismissed the invitation rudely. He was always disapproving in the most polite way he could be of Raymundo and his kids.

"Everyone can come, Raymundo and the guys have always been good with our family."

"Come on, Raoul," Sandy coaxed, "Ray and Noalani have always been friendly and inviting, you just never want to go treat the man like a friend."

"Anyone who wants to go is welcome to go. I would prefer to stay in my home and spend time with my family." Raoul stayed firm in his armchair.

To his surprise, everyone else shrugged and got up to carry platters of home made mexican cuisine across the street to the Rocket home leaving him alone in his chair.

Reggie and Paula arrived at the back porch of the Rocket house just as the Rodriguez family began to cross the street. Sam and Tito came from the Dullard house not far behind them. Ray and Noalani already had the grill going and got dishes and silverware out enough to feed a small army- which might be just enough given the entire extended Rodriguez family who came over and were introduced by Twister.

Sam remarked at how 'Little Scotty' had even surpassed his own height, and Clio and Reggie hugged like a pair of long separated twins.

"So does Raymundo know yet?" Clio asked hiding a sly smile.

"I don't know, I didn't think to bring it up. If Rocket Boy hasn't said anything then they probably don't know anything about you two."

"I wish I could see him. Its so hard to keep up a relationship with someone always on the road or in traction." Both girls laughed at the strange life Otto led.

"Dad told us he's up in Reno, that's not really that far if people are willing to give up a whole day going to see him."

"Could we? Imagine how great it would be to get everyone together again. Oh if only we could get Tito's nephew to visit us too, what was his name again?"

"Oh you mean Keoni? I still think he's living in Hawaii, but yeah it would be slammin' to have him around for once. I haven't seen him since high school."

The younger people continued their conversations while various adults became acquainted.

Raoul crossed the cul-de-sac after several minutes of arguing with himself. He walked straight over to Ray and the two men stared each other down for a few moments before Ray extended his hand, and in symbolism an olive branch. They may never have seen eye to eye, and they never had been good at discussing their problems with each other. The holidays were a time for family, joy, peace, and goodwill, and now was as good a time as there could be to have a new start between neighbors. The two men shook hands for the first time ever and parted ways as Raoul went to go sit with his wife and siblings. They may never be the friends their children were, but it was the first step in the right direction.


End file.
